Runcible Spoon

Sometimes, it is worth paying attention to ropey US teen dramas just for the soundtrack. The OC was a good example - interspersing its interminable "I have just smoked a cigarette and it has given me issues" plotlines with some truly tasty alt-rock.

Spoon, a Can-inspired quartet from Texas, were one of the bands to get their big break from the show's music supervisor, Alex Patsavas. The ragged piano groove of The Way We Get By soundtracked one of the big Seth / Summer moments, propelling the band's next album, Gimme Fiction, into the charts.

Since then, they've gone from strength to strength in the US, hitting the top 10 twice, most recently with their seventh studio album, Transference. It's a superb record, combining 70s MOR harmonies with shambolic, rickety grooves that constantly teeter on the brink of collapse. It's the sort of thing that comes in handy for awkward white men at indie discos, allowing them to give the appearance of dancing by simply flapping their elbows around like a penguin with an aneurisym.

First single off the record is called Written In Reverse. The video has been rendered in black and white, so that you know Spoon are a serious rock band. They are also playing live, so that you know they can "cut it". And the camera is frequently out of focus, so that you know they got their dad to film it when he got home from the pub quiz last Thursday.

Spoon - Written In Reverse

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